A Wolf Tale
by TheBlazingOptimist
Summary: [MY FIRST FANFIC!] After a freak storm rages through the kingdom, Thorne and Shaiden are left stranded in a dream-like forest, as wolves, with a new friend, and for Thorne, a possible love interest. Will they ever find their way out? Thorne/OC, teasing at Kook/Shaiden. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**(Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Splatalot.) Please be nice with the reviews, no text speak please. Credit for the wolf idea goes to my friend Sarah (XxMungoteazerxX). Thanks and please enjoy the story!**

**Blaze x**

Chapter 1

It was a normal morning in Splatalot, and the Defenders were getting ready for a day of, well, defending, in their own ways.

Gildar was gazing into his mirror and smiling.

Kookaburra was practicing his fire-snapping skills.

Knightriss was limbering up, which, according to her, was "An essential way for a seasoned Defender to be at the top of her game."

Crocness was feeding her pet crocodile bits of fish (or bird, it was hard to tell).

Tinkor was giving the Splatzooka a once over.

Ballista was filing her nails.

Skabb was shouting. No one knew why.

And then, there were Thorne and Shaiden, the brother and sister powerhouse. They were putting the finishing touches to a synchronized routine they'd made using their weapons.

"OK," Shaiden said. "Now to the right." Her Splatana cut through the air, with effortless grace, and total silence.

Thorne tried to do the same with his Mulching Mace, but ended up looking clumsy and unprofessional.

Shaiden sighed. "You'd have done much better as a ninja, Thorne. You really would."

"I've told you before," replied Thorne angrily, "I'm not built to be a ninja!"

Shaiden rolled her eyes. Why do I even bother?, she thought.

"Let's try one more time. Go to the left..."

She started, and then abruptly stopped, looking around nervously.

"Thorne, can you hear that?" she asked quietly.

Thorne listened, trying to pick up on whatever it was that his sister was on about.

But all he could hear were the sounds of the other Defenders.

He shrugged his shoulders. Shaiden shook her head. "No, there's something coming towards us- I can feel it."

"Well," said Thorne sarcastically, "if you're so sure that something's coming, why don't you go tell the others?" He hoped that this would deter Shaiden from even thinking about her idea ever again.

But she came out with the exact opposite of what he'd been thinking. "You're right!" she said determinedly, walking off.

"No!" called Thorne. "That's not what you're meant to do!" But she didn't hear him.

"Guys, I need to tell you something..." she began as the others looked over to her.

But Skabb interrupted. "Oh really, little girl?"

"Yes, yes..." she began again, nodding her head.

Yet again Skabb interrupted, this time with a hint of mockery to his voice. "Have you come to cry to us that your Splatana broke during your little dance class?"

Shaiden blushed as the sound of the Defender's laughter filled the air.

She groaned, and stormed off.

Kookaburra was the only Defender who didn't laugh. He turned to Gildar. "Do you think she's OK?" he asked him.

"Why do you care?" Gildar replied.

Kook didn't dignify him with an answer.

Meanwhile, Shaiden was walking back to her brother, frustrated that no one had believed her. Just then, the ground began to shake, and a loud rumble filled the air. Acting on pure instinct, Shaiden ran.

She ended up crashing into Thorne. "Whoa, what are you doing?" he asked. Shaiden didn't answer.

"Thorne, GET DOWN!" she screamed.

He did as he was told, and could only watch in horror as the castle crumbled around them. He could hear the other Defenders running inside, and wanted desperately to follow them, but he was stuck holding onto Shaiden as the rumbling became deafening.

Then, everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Thorne awoke to find himself lying on a bed of soft grass, surrounded by trees and flowers.

"This isn't real!_" _he said to himself as he came to his senses. "This _can't _be real!"

In the midst of all this anger and confusion, Thorne happened to glance downwards, where he saw that his hand was now a paw. He gasped, and jumped back in horror.

So many questions were plaguing his mind.

_Where was he?_

_Why was he like this?_

_How did he get here?_

_What had happened to all the others?_

_What had happened to...?_

"Shaiden." he said aloud.

He started running, and called out into the wind- "Shaiden!"

Silence.

He called again, louder this time- "SHAIDEN!"

Again, silence.

He was just about to give up searching, when he heard a voice echoing in the distance-

"Thorne?"

He smiled, and ran towards his sister. They hugged each other, before Thorne jumped back in disgust. Shaiden's fur was dripping wet. "What's happened to you?"

"Well," Shaiden mumbled, "I may or may not have woken up in a puddle."

Thorne couldn't help but laugh.

She continued. "I looked down at my reflection, and I saw that I'd turned into a-"

"What?" asked Thorne, wanting to know more about what had happened. "What did you turn into?"

"A wolf." answered Shaiden emotionlessly.

"A WOLF?" Thorne said loudly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Shaiden, we aren't wolves. Wolves don't look like we do."

Shaiden rolled her eyes. "Thorne, wolves don't always have to howl at the moon and be feral creatures, to be wolves. YOU'RE thinking about _werewolves_."

Thorne was about to reply, when Shaiden's face turned from that of annoyance, to that of total confusion. "Thorne, your face..."

"I know, it's furry." replied Thorne.

"No," said Shaiden. "Your face- it still has the mark. You know, that blue mark you always have."

Thorne didn't believe her, but as she was led over to a puddle, he saw that the mark, although it was now grey, was indeed still on his face.

He looked up at Shaiden. She had her mark too.

"Look," he said firmly as he came closer to his sister. "I don't know where we are, or why we're like this. But if I'm sure of one thing, it's that we're going to get out of this. _Together._"

Shaiden swallowed hard. "OK." she said quietly. "I think we should explore wherever- whenever, this is, and try to find out more about it."

Thorne nodded, and they began walking. The forest was eerily quiet, with nothing, not even birdsong. The trees were an electic green, and their trunks curled upwards, so much that their leaves nearly touched the sky.

The flowers were larger than life, and their scent was almost too much to handle, as it was so strong. They were in all the colours of the rainbow, and every shade in between. They were impossibly shaped- some had hearts crawling up their stems, some had blue swirls that seemed to loop round and round, and some had petals that looked more like umbrellas!

Shaiden was both confused, and excited. This place, wherever it was, reminded her of the book Alice in Wonderland. She'd always wanted to go to Wonderland, to see what Alice saw, and to do what Alice did, and now, it seemed she was finally getting the chance.

Before long, the two came to a crossroad. Thorne immediately took charge. "I think we should split up." he said.

Shaiden's eyes went wide. "Are you crazy? We can't split up, who knows what could be down those paths?"

Thorne raised an eyebrow, and, without saying a word, he walked down the path to the right.

"Typical." Shaiden said to herself as she began walking down the left path. "I give him an idea, and he totally disregards it!"

Thorne was walking cautiously down his chosen path. It was much darker than the forest before it, and unlike in there, where there had been no sound at all, in here he was being constantly taunted by what sounded like a whisper- a voice, telling him to turn back.

He thought nothing of it, and kept walking. Until he heard a sudden crack, a thud, and a whimper, coming from the bushes.

"H-hello?" he called. "Is anyone there? I can help you!"

There was a rustle, and then, slowly, something began to emerge...


	3. Chapter 3

Another chance to give credit where it is due, the idea for Crystal came from the brain of XxMungoteazerxX, who also has a fanfic floating around on here, go check it out!

Enjoy everybody!

Love,

Blaze x

**Chapter 3**

Thorne leaned backwards, readying himself for whatever was about to face him.

His claws sharpened, he was just about to pounce, when he was totally taken by surprise.

The creature standing before him was not a hideous monster as he'd imagined, but a small, pale yellow creature, with bright red cheeks, slightly curved ears, and big blue eyes.

There was a moment of silence, before the creature uttered her first words. "Oh. My. God."

Her voice was soft, and quiet. It had a distinctive Californian accent to it, and Thorne was slightly confused at how streetwise this creature was.

Finally, he spoke. "Hello," he said, in his nicest, least intimidating voice, "what's your name?"

"I'm Crystal, Crystal Lauritsen." she replied. "You?"

"I'm Thorne." he said. Crystal seemed to be becoming more confident now, but as she started slowly walking towards Thorne, he noticed that her front left paw was raised- she was limping.

After a few seconds, she spoke again. "Ha, that's a funny name." she said, giggling.

"I guess it is." replied Thorne, laughing.

For a brief moment, they were both lost in laughter.

But, eventually they had to face up to the matter in hand. "So, it's happened to you too, then?" she asked.

Thorne knew what she was on about. "Yeah," he replied solemnly. "Me, and my sister."

"You have a sister?" asked Crystal.

"Yeah." replied Thorne, realising he'd almost forgotten about her. "Her name's Shaiden."

Crystal laughed again. "I don't have any brothers or sisters." she said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I only live with my Mom and Dad. Not that I mind, my Dad's a millionaire, we have all the money we could want!"

Thorne smiled. "I don't remember my parents. I've only ever had my sister, and my seven other friends."

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Only seven?" she said curiously.

Thorne nodded. "We're all part of this special group. We get to defend this huge castle from these young kids, Attackers. We have a blast."

"Wow!" said Crystal, her eyes going wide with wonderment. "And I thought my life was fun!"

She paused for a bit, before adding: "Until now, that is." Her head drooped downwards.

"How did you get here?" Thorne asked, coming closer.

"Well," replied Crystal, "I was sitting in the lounge of my house, at my desk, writing a letter to my Uncle Terrence, when suddenly the house started to shake. My Mom and Dad were shouting at me to get down, but before I got the chance the chair collapsed, and I blacked out."

Thorne nodded again, his brow deeply furrowed. "When it happened to me, all the others rushed inside the castle, but I was left with Shaiden. In fact, if it wasn't for her, I might have ended somewhere much worse. You see, she was the one that alerted me in the first place."

Crystal gasped. "If your friends ran into the castle, then wouldn't they have been trapped by it collapsing?"

Thorne pondered this for a moment, before answering "No, Castle Splat's been around for hundreds of years, and it's foundations are way too strong to be knocked by what happened today."

Crystal nodded, before saying "So, where's your sister, then? I'd really like to meet her."

Thorne's heart began to beat inhumanly fast. "Oh God, Shaiden!" he said out loud. Whilst he'd been idly chatting with his newfound friend, she could be anywhere, caught up in anything! He ran off quickly to the path she went down.

"Wait for me!" Crystal called, running after as fast as her sprained paw would let her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Back in the Castle, Knightriss had just raised the alarm that the quake had stopped.

"Oh, thank Heavens." Gildar said. He then gasped, and fumbled around on the floor. "Has anyone seen my mirror?" he asked.

No one answered.

"I'll ask again," Gildar said, sounding exasperated. "Has anyone seen my mirror? I need to see if my hair's been messed up! I NEED TO SEE IF MY FACE IS STILL HANDSOME!"

All the other Defenders groaned.

"Gildar, it's right in front of you." Skabb said.

Gildar glanced at his feet, to see that his mirror was indeed just in front of him. "Oh, so it is!" he said, laughing as if he knew along.

Tinkor was jumping around.

"What's up, Tink?" Ballista asked.

"Must check Castle!" Tinkor replied, looking as if he was ready to bolt off at any second.

Ballista shook her head. "No, you can't do that yet. It's too dangerous."

Tinkor's head dropped, and he gave a heavy sigh.

Knightriss called everyone to get in a line, for a role call. "Just checking that everyone's safe." she said. Mid-way through, everything seemed to be going well, and everyone was present. Well, almost everyone...

"Thorne?" Knightriss called.

There was no answer.

"Thorne!" Knightriss called again, firmer this time.

Still no answer.

She moved onto Shaiden, hoping that if she was still there, she could help find Thorne.

But, there was no answer from her either.

"This is bad." Kook said to himself. This is really bad!"

"Kook, it's fine. " said Ballista with a slightly evil smile. Shaiden's a ninja, remember? She's probably hiding somewhere, she'll come back soon."

"Yeah." said Crocness, "Besides, when have you ever cared so much about Shaiden?"

All the Defenders turned to look at him. "Well, think about it." he said, trying to get out of it, "If we don't have those two, then how are we gonna defend the castle properly?"

"He's got a point." Gildar said, now gazing into his mirror as usual. "I mean, why did we have to lose the ninja and the alchemist, of all people? We could have just lost the barbarian."

Skabb growled, and punched Gildar hard on the shoulder. Gildar winced, and took a few tentative steps back.

Knightriss glared at both of them. "Look, we need to all stop arguing, and start looking for Thorne and Shaiden. They're two of our most valuable Defenders."

Ballista groaned. "Does no-one remember the Splatty Awards?" she muttered to herself.

After a short discussion, everyone agreed that they should at least try and find them.

They set off, having no idea that the people they were looking for were caught up in their own problems, very far away...


	5. Chapter 5

**Credit for the first line of this chapter goes to my friend Laura (GraphicsGirl), she also has a fanfic floating around on here, go check it out!**

Chapter 5

Running, running, wind cutting into his face.

Thorne could hear Crystal calling from behind him- "Slow down!"

He didn't waste his breath by replying.

He was no telepathic ninja, but he could definitely sense his sister.

She was close.

She was close, and she was...

_Oh, what's the word?,_ he thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by a shout, not from Crystal, who seemed too tired to say anything, but from-

"Shaiden!" Thorne said gleefully, running towards her and hugging her. "You're... alive!"

That was the word he'd been searching for.

"Yes, of course I'm ali-"

She cut off before finishing her sentence, leaning to the left. "Who's that?" she asked, looking over at Crystal.

Oh, that's..." Thorne began. But Crystal butted in:

"Hi, I'm Crystal! You must be Shaiden, right?"

Shaiden nodded slowly, trying to take this new creature in.

"Thorne's told me all about you!" she continued.

Shaiden's eyes went wide with anger. _What the hell did you tell her_? she signalled to Thorne.

_Nothing much._ He signalled back._ Just a few things about how we got here, and a little bit about what we do at the castle._

Shaiden was now really angry, even she was surprised. She'd always been sworn to secrecy; both about her past, and her job at Castle Splat, but now one error from her brother had seen the whole thing blown out of the water.

Shaiden was brought out of her anger by Crystal, who now had a huge grin on her face.

She pulled both the siblings into a tight hug. "We're going to be BFF's!" said Crystal, who was still beaming.

"Best Friends Forever!" Thorne and Shaiden said in dull unison.

Crystal squealed, and started skipping. It was quite weird, as she was on four legs, not two. She was singing:

_All the daisies,_

_All the roses,_

_All the fragrant purple posies,_

_All the sunflow'rs towering high,_

_They could touch the sky._

_If only they would try..._

Both found it hard not to smile. "I guess she's not that bad." Shaiden mused.

"That's what I've been thinking since the first moment we met." Thorne replied dreamily.

There was a happy silence, when suddenly Shaiden jumped high into the air, and yelped.

Crystal stopped singing, and ran over to her quickly. Thorne stood speechless.

"What happened?" asked Crystal.

Thorne shrugged.

Shaiden's brows were fixed into an angry expression, and she seemed to be omitting some sort of low, fearsome growl.

"Who's there?" she called out. "I know what you're trying to do!"

She started kicking and punching wildly, landing perfectly into a handstand.

"Thorne, is your sister a…" Crystal began.

"Yes, I'm a ninja." Shaiden interrupted, flipping upright with a hint of a smile. "And, if you're wondering how I can answer your thoughts, it's because all ninjas are telepathic."

Crystal nodded, her sapphire blue eyes wide.

"What happened?" she asked for the second time.

"Well, I felt something brush across the fur on my back. It was soft, brief- but it chilled me to the bone."

The three looked at each other, waiting for at least one of them to come up with an explanation.

All of a sudden, there was a crack of thunder, and a loud, sinister voice filled the air.

"So, it looks like you've finally found me. Or, have I finally found you…?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

An ominous, black shape rose seemingly from nowhere. It looked to be made of storm clouds, with two arm and leg like protrusions. The one thing that stood out about it was its pair of large, red eyes.

The three friends were all scared, though Crystal showed it most. She was shivering with fright, and whimpering. "It's a m-m-monster!" she said quietly.

Neither sibling replied. Their eyes were fixed onto the dark cloud.

"Who are you?" Thorne asked loudly.

A smile seemed to form just below the cloud's eyes. The cloud cackled evilly, before replying. "Thorne, you should know that by now, surely?" Its voice was slick, and had an element of playfulness to it.

He gave his sister an uneasy glance. "How does he...?"

"Don't worry." replied Shaiden calmly. "I'll deal with this."

She walked forward. "Who are you, and why are you here? We need answers!"

The cloud said nothing, a smile still on its face. Shaiden didn't quite know what happened after that- one minute she was staring it down, the next it had blasted her with some sort of yellow energy ray.

She groaned, and tried to get up. "What… what do you have against me?" she murmured.

The cloud didn't answer, but glided over to Crystal.

"Ah, Crystal Sophia Lauritsen." The cloud said, its voice now quieter than before.

Crystal glanced around nervously. Thorne and Shaiden weren't really paying attention to her- for the last 10 minutes they'd continuously been staring at that cloud. Crystal knew that it was scary, the way it had eyes, and a voice, and the power of movement, but she'd always been taught that the best way to face fear was, well, not to face it. _Look away, and everything will be fine, _that was what her mother had told her from a very young age.

She turned her head away from it, but, on this one occasion, looking the other way was of no help whatsoever. The cloud just seemed to quickly move round to the area Crystal was looking at- either that or it was duplicating.

It cackled for what must have been the third time, and a yellow ball of light formed in its centre. It drew it back, and prepared to throw it at the now paralyzed Crystal. Her lips were moving, albeit only a little, but no sounds were coming out. _The biggest horror movie cliché in history, _she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Thorne felt a burst of compassion, which was unusual for him. "NO!" he called, as he leaped.

"Thorne, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Shaiden shouted.

He managed to knock himself and Crystal out of the way seconds before the ball of light flew past them and hit a nearby tree, making it catch fire for a brief moment, before falling to the ground.

The cloud let out an angry shout, before slithering away almost as fast as it had came.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Back at the Castle, the other Defenders had been looking for Thorne and Shaiden for what had seemed like an eternity. Most of them were getting fully involved, but two out of the Notorious Nine seemed to be distancing themselves.

Kook was checking every crevice, nook and cranny. He knew it would be no use, but Shaiden had to somewhere in the Castle. But, what if she wasn't in the Castle at all…?

No, he thought. He had to stay optimistic. If he found her, then maybe, just maybe…

His thoughts were interrupted by what sounded like crying. Very quiet crying. It sounded almost like… no, it couldn't be, she never cries…

"No crocodile tears, no crocodile tears…" came a quiet chant.

He crept around the corner, to see a figure with her back against the outside moat wall, and her head in her hands. Kook recognized it immediately.

"Croc?" he asked in his gentlest voice.

She stopped chanting and replied, her words muffled by sniffles. "Kook? What are you doing down here, shouldn't you be helping the others?"

Kook shook his head. "Not until I know why you're crying." he answered, kneeling down beside her.

Crocness lifted her head slowly. "It's Albert." she said sadly. "He's run away."

Albert was Crocness' pet crocodile. They'd been friends since her first day of training, hardly ever apart. Kook knew she'd be distraught.

"It's OK," he said, trying to reassure her. "There are plenty more reptiles in the moat."

"I see what you did there." she said, smiling. "But none of them are like Albert. I know, I've seen every single one of them."

She paused, and looked over at the moat, that was just beyond where she was sitting. "And I know he's not coming back." she continued. "Reptiles, once they leave their owners, they never return."

Kook's face was now completely out of character. Instead of the chirpy smile everyone was used to, it was fixed into a frown.

"What matters now is finding Thorne and Shaiden." he said, looking her in the eyes. "If we don't find them, the Castle will be vulnerable. And then, you might lose your relatives, your closest friends…"

"My life." Crocness said.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Kook said, surprised at Croc's sudden sense of hopelessness.

"No," she corrected, "my job here at the Castle, you guys- all of it, it's my life. If I hadn't got into doing all this, then I'd just be a strange half-crocodile, half human girl, with no place in the world."

"Which is why you need to find Thorne and Shaiden." Kook said, the trademark smile returning to his face. "Go on Croc- do it for Albert."

Crocness got up, and smiled. She put her hand on her heart. "This one's for you, buddy." she whispered happily.

The two of them ran off to rejoin the others.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Thorne's body was pressed hard against Crystal's. Neither could speak for a bit, as they were both shaken, quite literally, about what had just happened.

"You… you saved my life." whispered Crystal, with a twinkle in her eye.

"It was the best I could do." replied Thorne, trying not to smile.

All too soon, the moment was broken by a large shadow, and a harsh voice: "Uh, Thorne? What are you doing?"

Thorne immediately sprang up. "Nothing, nothing at all!" he replied hastily.

Shaiden raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. She looked down to Crystal.

"He… he didn't do anything, I swear!" she said, desperately trying to back him up.

Shaiden sighed. Such a kiss-up, she thought. "Shouldn't we be following that cloud?" she then said, trying to break the awkwardness.

Thorne nodded. "Yeah, why does it want us so much? Why couldn't it have chased down three other people?"

The two girls looked at him with wide eyes. "Thorne, how could you be so spiteful?" Shaiden asked, hardly believing what'd just been said.

Thorne opened his mouth to give a meaningful answer, but he was interrupted by the cloud once again coming into their view, though this time it seemed to change form, to that of a man. He was wearing a long, grey overcoat, and a bowler hat, reminiscent of those from the 1800's, but he still had those unmistakable red eyes.

He glided forward, and spoke as he did so, looking it Shaiden all the while. "Spiteful?" he said, sounding rather sarcastic. "Shaiden, you have to learn…"

Shaiden tried to cut him off mid-sentence. "I don't have to learn anything!" she said loudly. Immediately after, she cupped her paws over her mouth.

The man laughed, and continued from where he had left off. "You have to learn, that you don't have all the power in the world. Not then, not now, not ever."

He paused, and then added: "Plus, you seem to be becoming a little… oh, what's the word?" His voice trailed off.

"Vain?" said Crystal suddenly.

"Yes, that's it!" said the man, snapping his fingers as he did so.

Shaiden gave Crystal her meanest growl.

"Friends getting you down?" he asked.

At that moment, everything clicked for Shaiden. "I know what you're trying to make us do!" she said, confident as ever.

The man gave a look that said two words: _Oh really?_

Shaiden put on her game face, and started pacing around him. "You being here, your presence has brought out the worst in all of us. You're making Thorne spiteful, you're making me vain, and Crystal… well, she'd never call me bad things! There must be a reason why you're doing this."

The man just carried on talking in riddles. "I'm not going to give you answers, little wolves. You'll just have to work those out for yourselves, before time runs out."

He cackled, turned, and walked away, vanishing once again into thin air, the three friends still none the wiser.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I don't get it."Thorne said, as they were walking away from their latest encounter with the man-cloud. "It's been a whole day, and we've gotten nowhere, nowhere at all!"

He thumped his paw on the ground hard, whilst the girls looked on.

"Actually," replied Shaiden, with an air of certainty, "we have gotten somewhere- we've found out that the cloud can shapeshift. We've only seen it turn into a man so far, but what's to say it can't turn into other things, more dangerous things?"

There was a moment of silence, as everyone tried not to think of the grim things it could be capable of.

"And," she continued, "we've found out that it can influence people. They can hardly feel it, but we all saw it happen to ourselves back there. We need to be very careful."

Thorne sighed. "It's not like we can follow it, not now." He looked to the sky, which was now a dark blue colour. There were a plethora of stars, and a large, snow-white moon.

Shaiden nodded, and almost on cue, Crystal yawned.

"Tired?" asked Thorne.

"Kinda." Crystal answered sleepily.

"Don't worry." he said softly. "There's bound to be loads of places round here that we can use for a camp."

Crystal nodded. She turned to Shaiden. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked.

"Well," said Shaiden, "you could go and get some firewood, but you seem way too tired to..."

Crystal interrupted before she had the chance to finish, running off into the trees. "I'll be back as soon as possible!" she called.

For a moment, Thorne and Shaiden were looking at each other, confused.

"I thought she was tired?" Shaiden asked, with a hint of angriness in her voice.

"I guess she just reserves her extra energy for when it's needed." answered Thorne, with a smile on his face.

Shaiden rolled her eyes. "Thorne, what is it with you and Crystal? Every time you're around her..."

Thorne cut her off. "Look, if you really want to know, I'll tell you why she and I are so close."

He bent forward, readying himself to whisper into Shaiden's ear, but soon retreated, as he realised that the strange entity would probably know anyway.

At normal distance he said, "Crystal is the daughter of a billionaire. She needs protecting and seeing as you don't seem to care less..."

Shaiden stopped him. "Wait- the daughter of a billionaire? You mean, all this time, we've been friends with the daughter of a billionaire?"

Thorne nodded, trying not to laugh.

"Thorne, I think I know what the cloud wants with us!" she said, sounding very confident.

She was just about to say her theory, when Crystal came running back, saddled with logs. "I'm baaack!" she said happily.

"Good." said Shaiden, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. "Now, I think I know the perfect place to set up camp."

She led the others on a short walk to a clearing. It was quite big, and surrounded by trees, and those flowers, like the ones that they'd seen earlier.

"See?" said Shaiden. "Perfect!"

Thorne nodded in agreement, whilst Crystal rushed off to lay down the firewood. It was quite comedic, watching her trying to lay the logs in a pyramid, them falling to the ground each time, and her trying to light the fire, with two sticks. Eventually, Thorne went over and helped her out.

As you would imagine, the sleeping arrangements were quite basic, with the grass acting as a big all-in-one pillow, blanket and duvet. Thorne and Shaiden got used to it quickly, but Crystal tossed and turned, constantly complaining about how she missed home's silken sheets and four poster beds.

A few minutes later, Shaiden had already curled up and was silently sleeping (ninjas did everything silently). Crystal was still moaning, and Thorne was lying down, still wide awake.

He had no idea what time it was, he didn't really care. The quicker he could get out of here, the better. He decided that the only way to keep himself occupied in these ungodly hours was to find someone to talk to, so he sauntered over to Crystal, who was groaning.

"You OK?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

Crystal shook her head. "I miss home." she said,

Thorne laughed. "You're such a worrier, Crystal!" he said.

"I guess I am." she said, laying her head on Thorne's shoulder, eyes drooping

Thorne felt slightly weird at that moment. Was that really what she thought of him?

He decided to let the answer go for now, and snuggled into Crystal's cheek.

"Goodnight, Crystal." he whispered.

There was no reply. He looked over, and saw Crystal, with her eyes closed, sleeping soundly.

The sky was pitch black, when the two of them were asleep with each other.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Thorne's eyes slowly opened. He groaned, not quite knowing where he was. "I swear I fell asleep over..."

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a giggle, and a cheerful, energetic voice- "Ooh, morning Thorne!"

Crystal came bounding over to him. He noticed she had some sort of yellowy liquid all around her mouth. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but once again Crystal interrupted.

"Thorne, there's some really yummy nectar over there." She pointed to a patch of large pink flowers, on the outer area of the clearing.

"It tastes really sugary, like the candy my Mom used to buy me. And, it makes me really hyper!"

She began bouncing around and giggling. Thorne smiled, for a moment, forgetting the massive blunder he made the night before.

But, before he had a chance to think properly, Shaiden was calling him over.

She spoke in a hushed tone. "Thorne, what were you doing last night?"

He hesitated to answer. "Shaiden, I can explain..."

"Oh really?" she said. "You think you can explain why you ending up falling asleep with Crystal's head on your shoulder, huh?"

Thorne nodded quickly, before explaining the whole thing. "Crystal was groaning, and keeping me awake, so I went over to see what was up. She said that she felt homesick; I told her she was a worrier, she lay her head on my shoulder, and before I had a chance to object, she was asleep. I couldn't just leave her, Shaiden."

Shaiden said nothing. Her eyes spoke four words: Do better next time.

Thorne nodded, and glanced back at Crystal, who was happily licking nectar from the inside of the flower. She looked back at him and called: "Aren't you gonna try some of this?"

He looked over at his sister, then back at Crystal. "In a minute, Crystal!" he finally said.

He glumly walked off towards a wooded area just outside the clearing. It felt a lot more peaceful here, without the faces of Crystal or Shaiden to remind him of what he'd done wrong.

But as it turned out, being alone just seemed to amplify his feelings, rather than tone them down.

He kept having flashbacks of the night before. He couldn't be in love, he told himself. He just couldn't...

He didn't want to admit it, but he was missing his home. The Castle, the rest of the Defenders, the thrill of splatting attackers...

He flew into a rage. It felt good, the fact that his new wolf body gave him so much more freedom. He tore at the bushes, scratched at the ground, and howled into the sunlight.

He shouted into the emptiness. "SOMEBODY STOP THIS!"

He was sure no one was listening.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Kook was walking glumly outside the Stockade.

He'd only slept a few hours last night. He'd kept thinking of Shaiden, having wonderful dreams, but which soon turned into horrible nightmares.

He was the last Defender to go to bed, and the first to wake up. He didn't really care about being tired. He had just enough energy to look for Shaiden, and that was all that mattered.

He leaned against a dark purple wall. It was covered in ivy, but Tinkor had tested samples of it some time ago, and it had proved to be harmless.

He hummed a tune. It was nothing special, just something he made up on the spot. It cheered him up for a little bit.

He was quite proud of his singing ability and his dancing ability, too. He chuckled, as he remembered the time Thorne had stopped him from doing a happy dance, after another Attacker had captured the crown.

Dancing was, in fact, the very first way he'd tried to attract the attention of Shaiden, whilst him, her and Ballista had all been defending the Stockade. From what he could remember, she quite liked it. What had she called it again?

_Oh yes_, he remembered. _Awesome_. She'd called his dancing awesome.

Strangely, their relationship hadn't really gone on anywhere from that point. The other Defenders had kept asking why he cared about her so much, what on earth he saw in her.

And every single time, he couldn't tell them the honest answer. He was perfectly capable of giving it, but there was one problem- he didn't quite trust any of the other Defenders to keep his secret. It seemed silly, not trusting the friends he'd had since his days at the Academy, the ones who'd he'd always been close to. But inside, he knew that at least one of them, as soon as he'd told them, would sell the exclusive story to Gossip International, and his face would be on the front cover, for all the wrong reasons.

He sighed, and starting playing around with his Sling Splatter, which was basically a little slingshot, modified specially for firing paintballs. The others had never let him use it in tournaments, he'd always had to use the Splatzooka, and most of the time he did that, he'd be paired with at least one other Defender. He hated that. He always worked better on his own; he'd known that since his first day at the Academy.

He pulled back, took aim, and fired. The paintball flew through the air at great speed. Kook expected it to fall to the ground with a squelch, but instead, it seemed to hit something hard, and bounce off straight after.

He stepped back, feeling slightly scared.

The space before him seemed to wobble and ripple, before bursting open with a bright flash.

Kook shielded his eyes, before peeking out a few seconds later. What he saw before him made him almost jump out of his skin.

There was a forest, which looked pretty normal, no reason to be scared there. But, there was also a small creature, grey, with darker grey stripes, and a mark over its eye that reminded him of someone, but he couldn't figure out whom.

"Hello?" he asked, his voice nearly a whisper.

The creature seemed almost oblivious.

"Are you OK?" he said, his voice now slightly louder.

The creature quickly turned, and gave a feral growl.

Kook shrieked.

He cocked his head, almost certain about who the creature was meant to be.

"No way..." he said, his eyes wide.

He crept closer, hardly believing his eyes.

"Thorne, is that you?"

No answer.

"Thorne, what's happened to you? Where are you? Can you hear me?"

Still no answer. Thorne didn't take any notice.

Suddenly, something clicked in Kook's mind. He knew he shouldn't say it out loud, but what other choice did he have?

"Thorne, is Shaiden there with you?"

Kook was getting frustrated now. Thorne hadn't heard a word he'd said.

"Seriously," he said his voice now lower and seemingly more desperate. "I know you'll probably think I'm crazy when I tell you this- heck, you ALWAYS think I'm crazy- but, there's something I need to tell Shaiden. Something really important, a secret, which I've been keeping for a long while."

He took a deep breath.

"I-" he began, but he was soon interrupted.

"Kook, what are you doing?" came a strong voice from behind.

He whirled around, to see Gildar standing a few yards away from him. Had he heard everything Kook had said, seen everything he had seen?

"Gildar, I can explain..." he started.

But, before he could explain, there was a noise, another flash, and, almost as soon as it had appeared, the portal had gone.

Gildar raised an eyebrow. "You sure are funny, Kook." he said with a smile. "Slightly dumb, but funny all the same."

Kook blinked. "But... but... the portal... it was right there!" he stuttered.

"What portal?" Gildar laughed again, and held up his mirror.

Kook groaned, feeling relieved inside that Gildar hadn't seemed to have heard any of his ramblings about Shaiden.

_Does he ever go a day without looking into that mirror of his?_ he then thought to himself. _Probably not_, a surprisingly bitter voice answered.

Without thinking, Kook snatched the mirror from Gildar's hands and ran.

"Hey!" he shouted, fuming. "GIVE ME BACK MY MIRROR!"

Kook didn't know exactly why he'd done it. Gildar was a good friend. Slightly vain, but a good friend all the same.

His mind was focussed on one thing. He needed to tell the others about the portal. Fast.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Thorne was feeling quite uneasy. For a few moments, he had swore that someone, somewhere, had been watching him. But then, in a flash, they had disappeared.

Was it the entity that was spying on him? _Invisibly_ spying on him, trying to find out his weaknesses?

He shuddered, before walking back to the clearing, via the outer edge. He didn't want to cross the inside area, in case he bumped into Shaiden again, who was probably still angry at him.

But, even if he did avoid Shaiden, there was another person that he'd not be able to avoid- Crystal.

She was happily sucking nectar out of the flower, and as such, Thorne was barely noticed.

"Um, hi Crystal." he mumbled.

"Oh, hi Thorne!" Crystal replied, popping her head out from the flower. "Why were you gone so long? You said you'd only be a minute!"

"I'm sorry," he replied, "but things happened."

Crystal gave him an inquisitive look.

"Things I don't want to talk about." he said, implying that he wanted to move on.

Crystal nodded, and gave a small sigh.

"Anyway, I saved some nectar especially for you!" she said, her voice now happier.

She and Thorne peered into the centre of the flower, where there was indeed a small pool of yellow liquid. It smelled heavenly, but Thorne knew that it would taste even better.

He quickly lowered his tongue into the centre of the flower, scooping up a few small drops of nectar. It tasted really sugary. It wasn't what he would usually go for, but, unless you counted the grass, there was nothing else to eat.

"C'mon Thorne!" Crystal said teasingly, "If you keep taking sips like that, we'll be here all day!"

Thorne gave a weak smile, and lowered his head into the flower once more. He sucked up as much of the nectar as he could. He found it quite hard to swallow, but eventually he forced it down his throat. His tastebuds tingled with satisfaction.

Crystal giggled, and stuck her head in the flower.

Thorne chuckled, and, after glancing around and seeing that no one was looking, he crept round behind Crystal, totally unknown, and shouted: "BOO!" right into her ear.

She screamed, jumped, and in doing so, knocked her top half straight into the flower. Her legs flailed everywhere, and Thorne burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny!" she said angrily. "Get me out of here!"

Thorne just left her in there. It seemed cruel, but he knew she would get out of there eventually.

And, soon enough, as she began wriggling around, slowly, she eased herself out of the flower and onto the grass, though it was a rather clumsy decent. Her fur was soaked with nectar.

She was giving Thorne an extremely dirty look, which was incredibly out of character for her.

Thorne was starting to get slightly worried, and began to back away, when Crystal suddenly charged towards him.

He tried to dive out of the way, but Crystal soon tackled him to the ground.

She smiled at him. "Not just a pretty face." she said.

Thorne knew her intentions, and remembered what he had told Shaiden an hour or so ago: _"I can't just leave her." _And the same saying was true for this moment- he couldn't just push her away from him, and forget this had all happened. So what if Shaiden, or the entity, or anyone was watching- this was probably the closest they were ever going to get, and he didn't want to waste any time.

So, he smiled back up at her, playfully rolled her over, got up, and in the process, got himself covered in nectar. Grass was getting stuck to his paws, and the air was overpowered by the sugary smell of the nectar was filling the air.

He walked over to the flower, jumped up, and dipped his already sticky paws into the nectar. Crystal began to run, but Thorne soaked her in more nectar before she was out of shot.

They both laughed, and ran into each other, engaging in a full-on play fight. They were tumbling and tumbling, over and over, nipping and swiping and having the best time...

A few yards away, Shaiden was watching from a distance. "I never thought this day would come." she said to herself. "Thorne, in love!" She laughed, and tried to push a certain picture out of her mind- right now, Thorne was happy, and she was nothing but a spectator.

Her mind quickly tried to weigh up the pros and cons of her shouting at him earlier, but it was no use. She just stood back and sighed. _Maybe I'll find love one day, _said a surprisingly childlike voice in her head suddenly.

_Oh, be quiet!_, another, more adult, scolding voice replied. _Your brother is the dopey one who's fallen for a big-shot billionaire, not you!_

Shaiden remembered an old quote that she'd heard not too long ago. Both voices said it in perfect, almost creepy, unison: _Having voices in your head is normal. Listening to them is common. Arguing with them is acceptable. However, when you lose the argument..._

_"..._you're in trouble." Shaiden finished, with as much of a smile as she could muster.

She had a lot of thinking to do.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kook was running at high speed, with Gildar a few yards behind him.

"Don't sass me Kook!" he called. "You know I hate that!"

Kook just kept running.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?" Gildar asked loudly.

Kook was listening to him, intently, just not by choice.

He crashed into Ballista, who was, as usual, taking an opportunity to file her nails.

"Kook, what are you doing? And, why have you got Gildar's mirror?" she asked.

"Ballista, I..." he started.

But, he was interrupted just at the wrong moment, by Gildar, who had now caught up.

"He's... he's right, he can explain." Gildar said breathlessly. "He was being delusional. Something about a portal, I dunno."

Kook looked over at Gildar, who smiled sarcastically at him, whilst all the others laughed.

The laughter went on for a few minutes, before Crocness' voice silenced it all.

"PEOPLE! she said, voice like thunder, before dropping to normal level. "Kook's idea might help us find Thorne and Shaiden."

Gildar laughed. "How is some silly portal theory gonna help us find Thorne and Shaiden?"

Crocness turned and gave Gildar a death glare. Gildar stopped laughing.

Kook smiled. _She's returning the favour_, he thought happily.

"Now, Kook?" She gestured towards him, and Kook stepped forward and began speaking.

"Earlier on, I was outside the Stockade, playing around with my Sling Splatter..."

Gildar opened his mouth to interrupt again, but Crocness gave him another death glare, and he shut up.

Kook spoke again. "I was playing around with my Sling Splatter, and I shot a paintball into the air, y'know, as a practice, but instead of falling to the ground, it hit something."

Knightriss spoke, a perplexed look on her face. "And, you say you shot this paintball into thin air, with nothing in front of you?"

Kook nodded. "Well, there was the outer wall of the Stockade, but I was standing a little too far back for the paintball to hit that."

Kook saw that he didn't need any permission to continue speaking. "So then, the empty space started rippling, like water, and I was there, getting really freaked out, when it suddenly bursted open..."

He made an explosion movement with his hands.

"And then there was this forest, and, this creature..."

He stopped, and looked around. All the other Defenders were gripped by his story.

"And, as I crept closer and closer to it..."

He paused for a minute or two, for dramatic effect.

"It GROWLED!"

He made a claw movement with his hands. Everyone jumped. Kook was satisfied with the reactions, so he continued.

"And, as it turned around, I could see it had these stripes all over it's body, and and this mark on it's eye."

Crocness' eyes went wide. "Thorne! The creature, it must have been Thorne! And, if he's there, then Shaiden must be with him!"

"Oh Kook, you're a genius!" she said, her voice full of happiness.

Kook smiled.

Gildar tried to chime in. "How can we be sure he's telling the truth?"

Crocness started to get up, but Ballista stopped her. "Don't worry Croc." she said firmly "I'll take it from here." She walked towards Gildar, and everyone except him knew what would happen next.

"Oh, this is gonna be _so_ funny!" said Skabb, who hadn't really spoken much during the last couple of minutes.

"Look," Ballista said, her voice noticeably angry, "I can tell when people are lying. Their voices are different, their body language changes- none of that happened with Kook. He's telling the truth, you know that."

Gildar nodded quickly, and Ballista pushed him away, and walked back, high fiving Croc in the process.

She turned to Kook. "Say, how exactly are we gonna get to see this portal?" she asked.

Kook said nothing, and turned to Tinkor. "Tink, go to the Weaponry Store Room and get out everything you've got, then bring them to the outside of the Stockade. Slime Sticks, Splatzookas, Lethal Launchers..."

Tinkor nodded, and rushed off.

He turned to all the others, and said, with a smile on his face, "Guys, follow me."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Shaiden walked out to behind the clearing. She noticed that the ground had been scratched at, and leaves had been torn from the trees.

Thorne must have been really mad at me, she thought.

She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, if she let Crystal and Thorne's relationship continue, Thorne might lose sight of their true objective- to get out of the forest, and back to the Castle.

But on the other hand, how would Thorne feel if she just came in and pulled him away from Crystal? Would Shaiden be able to live with the guilt?

She tried to get the thought out of her head. _Of course I'll be able to live with the guilt, _that adult voice in her head said confidently.

Shaiden was about to get quite happy, when another familar voice interrupted.

_Forgive me for denting your sense of pride, but, aren't you already dying inside?_

She looked around. The Entity itself was nowhere to be found, but its voice kept invading her thoughts.

The Entity gave an evil laugh, and before she could reply, Shaiden felt a stinging sensation at the back of her head, and she collapsed to the ground.

There was that unmistakable roar of thunder, and slowly, the entity rose from nowhere, this time in the form of a hooded, Reaper-like figure.

Shaiden struggled to get up. She'd be nearly on her feet, but then the Reaper would stare at her with glowing red eyes, and she would once again fall to the ground.

"I've asked you once," she said, sprawled out helplessly, "and I'll ask you again- what do you want with me?"

The Reaper glided to her. "Oh, nothing much." he said, his voice uncharacteristically relaxed.

Shaiden raised an eyebrow. "No, you can't mean that. _You _can't mean that!"

The Reaper's red eyes lit up. "Trust me, Shaiden- I can."

She once again tried to get up, but the Reaper just did what had been done before, and in a matter of seconds she was on the ground.

"It's funny," he said, gliding around. "I've been watching you, all of you, ever since I took you from your homes and dumped you here, and you and your brother, the bond that you have, oh, it was so incredibly strong!"

He continued to flit and float around. Shaiden could see where this was going, and the worst thing was, she was powerless to stop it getting to her, because she was still paralyzed on the hard ground.

The Reaper continued speaking. "And everything was going so well, until Crystal came along."

Shaiden's eyes went wide involuntarily.

"Thorne, he cared for you so much during those first few hours, but then he met Crystal, and now, he's got a new number one girl in his life."

He gestured towards the clearing, where Thorne and Crystal were still play-fighting. Shaiden gritted her teeth and kept her eyes on the Reaper.

"He's known me far longer than he's known Crystal..." she began.

The Reaper interrupted. "But it isn't too late for you to betray him."

Shaiden's ears pricked up. The Reaper continued.

"I can open the portal to your world, unparalyze you, and you can get up and walk straight through, back to where you came from."

Shaiden looked his straight in the eyes and asked, "What's the catch?"

The Reaper's smile showed faintly from under his hood as he answered calmly, "There is no catch."

He paused a few minutes, before continuing, "Oh, but there is a condition. One little tiny condition, that you have to adhere to if you want to be set free."

Shaiden looked at him inquisitively. "Go on." she said.

"That one condition," the Reaper replied, "is that only you can step through the portal, and once you're through, it will be permanently sealed."

Shaiden gasped.

The Reaper bent down to her, and spoke in a gentle, almost comforting voice. "Not to worry, my little wolf." he said. "Your brother will be fine without you, he's got Crystal, rememeber?"

Shaiden growled. She knew it would be no use.

The Reaper got out his staff, and pointed it to the side. A blue portal opened, and he gestured at Shaiden to go through.

Shaiden felt the paralysis lift from her body, but she lay down still.

"So, you're not going?" the Reaper asked.

Shaiden said nothing.

"Alright then." the Reaper said. He pointed his staff towards the portal, and it disappeared with a flash. Shaiden felt her muscles tense up again, as she was once again paralyzed.

The Reaper smiled, floated upwards. "Crystal is so, _so _beautiful, you know." he said, his voice full of adorement for her.

Shaiden was having such a hard time right now. She was fighting so hard not to let any of the Reaper's taunts get to her, it was almost becoming too much.

The Reaper smiled evilly, and said, voice as cold as ice, "She has SO much potential."

"Potential? What do you mean?" Shaiden asked, her voice more desperate than ever.

The Reaper turned, held out his hand, and his eyes flashed brightly. Shaiden once again felt an intense stinging pain, but this time it hurt much more, and it quickly spread across her whole body.

She yelped in pain, as the Reaper said "You should know better than to be so impatient, Shaiden. Give it time, and the answers will come to you."

She felt her eyes close. "You... you won't get away with this!" she vowed.

Suddenly, she felt the pain vanish, and her eyes open.

She got up.

The Reaper had gone away once more.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Back at the Castle, Kook had led the other Defenders to where he had seen the portal some time ago.

It was a few minutes waiting before Tinkor wheeled out every weapon that had ever been used. Everyone was a bit confused, though it was tinted by a little nostalgia, as some of them hadn't been used since the Academy years (they had been declared as being too easy to use).

"How is all this going to help us open the portal?" asked Ballista, as she picked up her Splatbow.

"That's simple." answered Kook as he loaded one of the Splatzookas. "My theory is, if we all shoot at the portal space at the same time, and give it everything we've got, the force might be able to break it open, and we could step through to the other side."

Ballista nodded. "I never knew you were such a brainbox, Kook!" she teased, whilst pushing him playfully.

Kook shrugged. "I guess it's something in my bird blood!" he joked.

He was feeling slightly nervous inside. His idea was a risky one.

_What if the weapons weren't strong enough?_

_What if the portal had been closed?_

_What if... what if someone, something, had done something to Shaiden..._

He tried to take his mind off all his thoughts by checking all the other weapons.

He came to Gildar, who had his arms crossed, and was staring at the floor.

"You OK Gildar?" Kook asked.

Whilst still staring at the floor, Gildar mumbled sulkily, "You stole my mirror, Kook. You stole my mirror, and never gave it back!"

Kook rolled his eyes, which didn't happen often, as he wasn't the guy to use sarcasm that much.

"Look, I'll tell you the reason why I stole your mirror.."

He paused for thought. Come to think of it, he couldn't really think up a reason why he stole Gildar's mirror away in the first place. Rather, he had a reason why he had kept Gildar's mirror from him all this time, so he decided to use that instead.

"You see, if I give you your mirror back, you won't be focussed on getting the portal open."

Gildar's face dropped. "You... you mean you won't be giving it back?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper. "Not even _after _we've gone through the portal?"

Kook shook his head. "If I give you it then, you'll be distracted from finding Thorne and Shaiden."

Gildar tried to protest against Kook's ruling, but eventually he just hung his head and let Kook keep hold of his mirror.

Kook went to stand between Skabb and Ballista. "Defenders!" he called, just as Shaiden would do, "Prime your weapons!"

Within seconds, all the weapons were set to full power.

"Take aim, and, FIRE!"

Suddenly, Splatzooka roars filled the air. Paintball debris and various colours of slime were flying everywhere. Slowly, the blue light began to appear, and the portal burst open to reveal the same area of forest from earlier.

Everyone shielded their eyes for a second, before Crocness led the way into the forest.

Ballista was the second-to-last Defender to step through the portal. As she was about to make her move, she looked behind, and was surprised to see Kook, the leader of the entire operation, hanging back.

"Kook, are you gonna come through or not?" she asked.

Kook had his doubts. The non-risk- taker part of him was coming through.

_There were so many things that could go wrong,_

_Yet so many things that could go right._

_Was this the right thing to do?_

_Would Shaiden even realise his love for her after she had been rescued?_

Kook soon realised that all of these questions only had one way of being answered.

It was now or never.

He slowly put one foot, and then the other, onto the forest floor.

The portal closed behind him, and he set off with the others.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Thorne and Crystal had heard Shaiden's cries for help, and had rushed over to her.

"Shaiden, are you alright?" asked Thorne gently.

"I... I think so..." Shaiden answered, as Thorne helped her to get up. Her voice was deep, droning, and strangely tired. She was also slurrring some of her words.

"Was it that monster that got you?" asked Crystal.

"It's called the Entity, Crystal." Shaiden corrected.

Crystal nodded. "So, was it the Entity that got you?" she asked again.

Shaiden groaned. "Yeah," she answered. "And... it said something... about you."

Crystal gasped, and Thorne's face became even more worried. "What exactly did it say?" he asked her.

Shaiden clambered to her feet. "It... it said something about Crystal having... potential. A lot of potential. I don't know what that means."

Thorne and Crystal looked at each other. They couldn't work out what it meant either.

"And... it said something about you, too, Thorne." she said quietly, looking her brother in the eyes.

"What did it-" he began to ask, but before he had a chance to finish, Shaiden interrupted, which was unusual.

"It said that you loved Crystal more than me, that you'd do fine without me." she answered.

Thorne's eyes went wide.

Shaiden giggled. "To be honest, I think I agree with it." she continued.

Thorne couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Shaiden, what are you on about? You're my sister, I'd never love her more than you!"

Shaiden groaned again, and staggered around. "Oh really? 'Cos when you're around her, you're all, _ooh, I love you, ooh, she needs protecting, _and Crystal's all bratty and hyperactive, and oh-so high and mighty. Where's the logic in that?"

Crystal tiptoed over to Thorne and whispered. "What's wrong with her?" she asked.

"I have no idea." Thorne answered. "Maybe it's the Entity that's done it, I'll try asking her some questions, see if I can get a response."

He walked over to his sister, who was now leaning against one of the trees. She had her eyes partially closed

"Shaiden?" he asked gently.

Shaiden groaned, and her eyes opened slowly. "Uh, what is it, Thorne?"

"Shaiden, can you remember what happened to you?"

Shaiden paused for thought, before replying. "Well, I was walking around here, when sudddenly I heard this voice, and there was this pain down my back."

Thorne nodded. "And, what did this voice say to you?"

Shaiden recited the exact riddle she had heard.

Thorne swallowed hard.

"And then," she continued, "I felt this pain down my back. I collapsed, I couldn't help it."

She went on to describe what the Entity looked like this time, and what it had said to her. She was more reluctant when it came to describing what the Reaper had told her about her brother's relationship with Crystal, but after a bit of coaxing, she was able to tell the whole story.

Thorne noticed that, over the minutes of interrogation, Shaiden became more and more alert, though she was still more tired than usual.

Thorne briefly left his sister and walked over to Crystal, who had been watching her like a hawk.

"Crystal, I think I know why Shaiden is acting the way she is."

"What? Is she hurt? Is there something that's happened to her brain?" she asked, her voice desperate sounding.

"No... well, yes, but not in that way." he answered. "She said that the Entity kept sending this shock through her body, her whole body. I think her senses just got mixed up. It's only temporary, I think she'll be OK."

Crystal breathed a sigh of relief. "What else did she say?" she asked.

Thorne bent over to tell her, but Shaiden interrupted, though her voice had changed dramatically, and was now more alert sounding. She was also more stable on her feet, and her eyes had opened more.

"Guys, someone's here. Not the Entity, other people, other humans..."

Thorne smiled, and turned to Crystal again. "Crystal, come with me. I've got some friends I'd like you to meet."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Thorne had broken into a run, and Shaiden wasn't far behind.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Crystal.

No reply.

"Who are these friends? Are they those guys from the Castle?"

Still no reply.

Crystal decided to cut the questions, and just try and keep up with the siblings.

Thorne was getting really excited now. He could see them, all seven of them, standing there. He leapt, he bounded, and within a matter of seconds, he was at... Crocness' feet?

Oh yeah, he thought, looking up at her. He'd almost forgotten that he was still a wolf.

All the others were staring at him.

He tried to speak. "Guys, I-"

But, yet again, Shaiden interrupted, though this time it was through a padding of paws, and not words, after having caught up with Thorne.

He was getting really annoyed about that.

"What happened to you, Shaiden?" asked Ballista.

"We don't know, either." Shaiden answered. "But you guys have questions to be asked too- like, how did you get here?"

At that moment, Gildar stepped forward and smiled. Shaiden had almost forgotten how annoying his vanity was, and now she was getting flashbacks from her days at the Academy. Oh, the horror!

"As a matter of fact," he said proudly, "I engineered this whole operation. Right down to the timescale."

Ballista groaned, and pushed him hard. "Shut up Gildar. It wasn't your idea to bring us here- it was all Kook's."

Kookaburra slowly stepped forward, whilst Gildar relucantly took to the side.

"Kook, how did you do it?" Shaiden asked.

Kook smiled. "Let's just say the weapons played a vital part." he told her.

Shaiden was confused. But, this time, she was happy and confused- because, her friends, her friends till the end, had finally came to rescue her.

Kook leaned to the left. "Um, Shaiden, who's your new friend?" he asked.

Shaiden knew he who he was on about. "Well, I'll let her introduce herself." she said. "Crystal?"

Crystal didn't move an inch.

"I guess she's a little shy." Kook said with a smile.

"No, no!" Shaiden replied. "She's not shy, I swear!"

She gestured to her brother, and Thorne immediately came over to Crystal.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked. "Where's all that enthusiasm, that bubbliness, that hyperactivity?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry." replied Crystal apologetically, "It's just, I get really nervous around new people, I don't know why."

Thorne knew who he was seeing. It was still Crystal, but, for the first time since he had met her, she was acting shy.

"Crystal, this really isn't the time." he told her.

"I know, I'm so so sorry!" she replied, crying on his shoulder.

All the others were staring.

"Are you two in a relationship or something?" asked Kook.

Shaiden giggled, Crystal blushed. Thorne said nothing.

Crystal turned to Thorne. "Why are they...?"

"Kookaburra is a bit of a joker." Thorne replied flatly.

Crystal nodded slowly. All these new people, they were dressed so elaborately, and they held weapons in their hands.

They looked dangerous. They were good, at least, now they were, but Crystal couldn't shake the feeling that someone else was watching.

As if her mind was being read, the voice of The Entity filled the air: "Ah, such a happy ending. For me, anyway. You, my little wolves, aren't going anywhere. And neither are your friends."

Thorne turned to his sister and Crystal, and said one word: "Run."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The three wolves exploded into action, whilst the human Defenders opened fire on the cloud that had now risen, larger than ever before.

Kook turned to the wolf Shaiden, who was running off with Thorne and Crystal. "Shaiden, wait!" he called.

She turned to him. "What is it?" she asked.

He looked her in the eyes. "Be careful." he warned.

"Don't worry, I will." she replied, running off to rejoin the others.

Kook sighed. _Why did I have to do it now?, _he thought angrily.

He knew that, earlier on, when him and Shaiden had met for the first time since the quake, he could have told her his feelings then, but instead he just owned up about his involvement in opening the portal. If that wasn't bad enough, just now, when he had been given a second chance, all he could tell her was to be careful. If he wasn't careful, she was going to forget that his love for her even exsisted!

He was snapped out of his sad daydream by Ballista. "C'mon Kook!" she said harshly, before shooting a paintball. "We've got to try and hold this thing back!"

He grabbed his handheld Splatzooka and began to fire at the cloud.

Meanwhile, Thorne, Shaiden and Crystal were running at full speed through the forest.

"Thorne," she asked, "remind me again why we're meant to be running in the opposite direction to the conflict?"

"We need to make a diversion." he replied. "That way we can get the Entity to chase us, and, knowing him, he'll probably get in front of us, try to force us into a corner. We'll surprise him, give him a taste of his own medicine."

Shaiden nodded, even though the whole thing had gone slightly over her head.

"Well," she retorted, "your plan doesn't seem to be working all that well- he's still over with the others!"

Everything seemed to be getting a little off-track, but even so, both the siblings were surprised when Crystal stepped in.

"Guys, would you just stop it!" she said. "We're meant to be focussing on getting out of here!"

Suddenly, an all-too familar voice filled the air. "Thinking of leaving, are we?"

This time, there was no crack of thunder, but the Entity quietly arose all the same, in its cloud form.

"What the...?" Thorne started.

"My dearest Crystal," it said sympathetically, floating down to her, "my deepest apologies, but I'm afraid I simply cannot let you do that."

He glided over to Thorne and Shaiden. "For, if you go through the portal to your world, as you are, time will rip itself apart."

"What are you on about?" Thorne asked angrily.

"All this time, little wolves," he answered slyly, "you've been trapped in a whole different world. Same timeline, but with two different fabrics that make them up."

None of the three knew a decent comeback.

The Entity laughed, and said, with a mischevious glint in his red eyes, "And now, my plan has all come down to this. Get ready to run, my little wolves."

The cloud swooped over them, blasted an energy ray, and the three once again began running.

On the way, Shaiden noticed a pile of large, thick logs. She picked them up. She couldn't figure out why she'd done it, it was just a random, spur-of-the-moment thing, but something in her subconscious told her that it would be an extremely wise move.

She quickly caught up with Crystal and Thorne, who seemed to be enaged in a bizarre rodeo round-up of sorts. Shaiden rolled her eyes. "When will you two ever learn?" she asked, throwing them each a twig.

"And what are these for?" asked Thorne.

Shaiden didn't reply, and began approaching the Entity.

"Shaiden, you're making a big mistake!" he warned. "Listen to me!"

But she continued to approach the Entity. She spoke, an even, calm, and courageous tone in her voice. "You think that we're defenceless, huh? You think that turning us into wolves would make us lose all of our abilities?"

The Entity shapeshifted into his human form, and nodded. "All of you, I've taken all three of you away from the lives you've had, and loved, for so long. It was inevitable that you'd find it...hard to adjust."

"Well," said Shaiden, her eyes narrowed, "next time you try to trap us, at least think of somewhere with less resources!"

She threw a stick to Thorne and Crystal, and began using hers to full effect. "This is where being a ninja comes in handy!" she said, thrusting her stick out into the Entity.

The Entity shifted to its cloud form, swooping and swerving, dipping and diving, and spinning, shooting countless energy rays, before stopping to float above the three.

"Ah, this is so much fun!" he said, twirling around. "And even now, the two Defenders aren't doing their jobs!" He laughed, whilst Thorne and Shaiden exchanged worried glances.

The Entity continued. "But, really, it isn't you two I should be focussed on. Now I think about it, you two don't really matter."

"What do you mean?" Shaiden asked.

"Think about it." the Entity answered calmly. "All you have is a petty crown, and a kingdom, and a small one at that. Someone else has so much more..."

Thorne knew who he was on about. "No, you can't do this..." he began.

"Oh, I can." the Entity replied. "Compared to you, Crystal is queen of the world. So much money, fame... and _power._" He put special emphasis on the last word."

He glided over to her, and whispered in her ear, "Il mio gioiello."

"What does that mean?" he asked Thorne quietly.

"It's Itallian, for 'my jewel'." he answered.

Crystal gasped, and tried to run, but the Entity was right on her tail, quite literally.

Thorne chased after her. "DON'T YOU DARE!" he shouted.

"Thorne, what the hell are you doing?" Shaiden asked, running after him.

The Entity was firing energy blasts left right and centre. It had only mentioned wanting Crystal, but she had a feeling that it would take everyone, given the chance.

It was almost becoming too much for her. Thoughts were filling her mind. She was running and leaping, she was trying desparately to dodge blasts, falling branches, and oh so many flames. She thought it couldn't get any worse, when all of a sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her leg, and collapsed with a yelp.

Thorne stopped dead still. His ears pricked up, and he bolted towards Crystal, who was hardly moving. Shaiden had pulled through her energy blast because she was strong. Crystal had less of a chance.

Her scream must have been incredibly loud, because all the human Defenders had rushed over to see what the comotion was about.

Thorne was now at Crystal's side.

Her blue eyes had faded, and were only slightly open. Blood was pouring from her leg, and He was trying to soothe the bleeding with leaves.

"Crystal," Thorne asked quietly, "can you hear me?"

She nodded slowly. "It hurts so bad, Thorne. " she murmured.

"I know." he replied. "You can fight this, Crystal. You can fight this all away, and when you do, you'll be able to go back home. Home, to all those pretty dresses and being waited on hand and foot and sleeping in all those warm, soft four poster beds. Don't you want that?"

"No," she answered, "I don't want all of that. Having that doesn't make me any different to anyone else. I'm not the daughter of a millionaire, Thorne- I'm just an extremely lucky girl."

She bent forward and softly kissed his lips. "I love you..." she whispered through tears.

"I love you too." Thorne answered.

The others were astounded. "I guess they are in a relationship." Kook answered, trying to hide his sadness.

The moment was broken by the Entity's voice. "You two are just so annoying! Why can't you just accept that it's not always a happy ending?"

Thorne stood up, and walked towards the Entity. "I don't know what you are, but you have a weakness, one big, big weakness- you are a hater. You hate to see love, strong love, like the love between me and Crystal-"

"And me and Shaiden." said Kookaburra to himself.

"and now that that love has been realised," Thorne continued, "you can't take it. YOU CAN'T TAKE IT!"

There were crashes of thunder and lightning, and the human Defenders fired their weapons.

"No, no, please!" it called. "I used to be lonely, I used to be _human_, oh so, so _human_! Stop your fire, _stop your fire_!"

The Defenders continued firing, until, suddenly, there was a rumble of thunder, and the ground began to shake.

"Everyone, get down!" Thorne instructed.

There was a flash, and when everyone came back up, the Entity was gone, for good this time.

Everyone cheered. "Thorne, you did it!" Crystal said, looking into his eyes and beaming."

"No," he said, hugging her and his sister, "_we_ did it."

Crystal bent forward to kiss him again, but before she could, an orange light enveloped all three of them.

"Human transformation is beginning, stand back." Tinkor said.

Everyone stood back, and withing seconds, the three of them had collapsed in a pile.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello everyone!**

**Well, it looks like I've finally reached the end. *cue sniffle and overly sad music***

**This fic has been in development since March 2011 (I think, my brain's great at remembering some things, and not so good on others) and it's gone through a lot of changes. **

**I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone that has read, reviewed and helped me with this, my first fanfic, especially GraphicsGirl and XxMungoteazerxX. SPLAT FANS FOREVER, YEAH! :D**

**Sorry if this chapter has a tonne of spelling mistakes, the whole thing took me three days to write, so I was pretty exhausted afterwards xD**

**Be sure to check back soon for more fanficcy awesomeness!**

**Wishing you a happy life,**

**Blaze x **

Chapter 19

Thorne slowly opened one eye, and then the other. He saw that he was now in the Castle grounds, and lying on top of the human Shaiden. The rest of the Defenders were standing around them.

He hugged his sister, before helping her to get up. "How long have I been unconscious?" he asked.

"An hour, at the least." said a sweet voice from behind.

He turned around, and what he saw amazed him. Standing before him was a tall, slim, beautiful girl, with short, curly blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a light pink dress, with a checked black and white mini jacket, black high heels, and tiny black rose earrings. She was also holding a small black handbag, with pink roses outlined onto it.

"Crystal..." he said, looking into her eyes, "you're so... beautiful."

She blushed, and turned to two adults standing to her. "Thorne, I'd like you to meet my parents, Sandra and Blair."

Crystal's mother and father were dressed very smartly. Sandra had platinum blonde hair, which was up in a bun. She had the same blue eyes as her daughter, and was wearing a flowery dress, which fell just above her feet, with white flats. Blair had short black hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a smart, pinstripe suit.

Blair heartily shook Thorne's hand. "We'd like to thank you for protecting our daughter during these last few days." he said, smiling warmly.

"You're welcome, sir." Thorne said, feeling ever so slightly unworthy to be where he was right now.

"And, may I say," added Sandra, "I don't think our girl could have had a better friend. I've spent nights crying, hoping, praying, that she would come back to us."

Thorne could see the tears in her eyes.

"And your friends played a vital part too," she continued, "with all their fancy weapons."

She began to laugh. Her laugh with cheerful and bright, it reminded Thorne of Crystal's laugh.

Blair bent over and whispered into Sandra's ear. Thorne tried to make out what they were saying, but it was no use.

"And now," she said, adressing the entire group, "we'd like to repay you, all of you, for your kindness."

She turned to her daughter, who nodded. She then turned to the Castle gates, and said loudly, "Bring 'em in, boys!"

No sooner had Sandra gave the instruction, then were seven pet carriers of various shapes and sizes. Each had a Defender's name on.

Kook picked up his box. "Hey, mine's smaller than the rest of 'em!" he moaned.

"Kook, just shut up and open the box." scolded Ballista, who had just walked up to hers.

Kook nodded, and slowly opened the small door on the front of his box. Before he knew it, a tiny bird flew out of it, whistling a tune. It was a kookaburra, his namesake. It was wearing a smaller version of his top, goggles on its head, and a small tuft of green hair.

"Whoah, awesome!" Kook said with a smile. "What's your name, little fella?" he asked.

"You're not seriously expecting him to talk back, are you?" Ballista asked.

Kook shrugged. He got the biggest fright when, in an Australian accent much like his own, the bird answered: "I don't have a name, but everyone calls me Wookie. I'm not sure why."

Kook tried not to laugh as he said, "I guess that's not a bad name."

Crocness was puzzled by her box. It was long and wide. She bent down, and cautiously opened the hatch.

A large, dark green crocodile scuttled out of the box, dragging a chain lead behind it. Crocness almost felt like crying.

Thank you!, she mouthed to Crystal.

Everyone else was confused. "Wait, there must be some mistake." Gildar said. "Crocness already has a pet- Albert, remember?"

Crocness shook her head. "Albert ran away yesterday." she told them, staring down at the reptile, "But, that doesn't matter now, because I've got you!"

She kneeled down to pet it, but it reared up and snapped angrily. "Hey, get off me!" it ordered, in a Boston accent.

Crocness smiled. "Ooh, I know the perfect name for you!" she announced happily.

"No, please don't do it..." he started.

"Snapper! I'll call you Snapper!" Crocness said.

Snapper's face immediately changed to a 'why me?' expression, before he got up and walked back into his box, declaring: "This whole thing needs to be cooler. About 20%. Back in a mo."

It was only a few seconds before he came out again, wearing a pair of Men In Black style sunglasses. Everyone found it hard not to laugh.

"He thinks he's such hot stuff..." Wookie told Kook from the side.

Meanwhile, Skabb approached his box feeling slightly dissappointed. Even he had worked out that the size of the box indicated the size of the pet, and, judging by the size of his box, his pet wasn't going to be that big, or that interesting. He casually opened the door on it, and what stepped out?

Well, for a moment, no one really knew. Sandra eventually pointed out that he was meant to be an ogre, a small ogre, but an ogre nonetheless.

He was wearing a necklace of skulls, and a ripped brown skirt thing at the waist, with a few skulls hanging off. He carried a large, spiked brown club, though it was only large enough for him. He was a brown colour, fading slightly into pink. His ears were small, and his eyes sat on top of his head. He had two tusks, which protruded from his lower lip.

"Be careful," warned Crystal, "he's a little..."

But before she could finish, the ogre was smashing and bashing everything in sight with his club. When he eventually stopped, he looked incredibly tired.

Skabb turned to Crystal. "A little what?" he asked, prompting her to finish her sentence.

"Boisterous." Crystal answered. "He's a little boisterous."

Skabb nodded, and turned to the ogre. It smiled at him. "Hello." he said in a friendly, yet low, grunty voice.

"Um, hi." replied Skabb. He was feeling incredibly awkward.

"Hey, Skabb!" called Gildar. "Maybe you should name him Bruiser, cos I think he'll cause someone an injury soon!"

He gestured to the others, hoping that they would laugh. They didn't.

Skabb nodded. "That's a brillaint idea, thanks Gildar!" he replied.

Gildar's eyes went wide. "No, that's not what I meant!" he said, trying to convince him to change his mind.

The others sniggered at the Viking's misfortune.

Tinkor hadn't really been involved in all the tomfoolery involving Bruiser. He'd been studying his box. He tapped it and rattled it, but he still couldn't work out what was inside.

"I guess I'll have to open it." he decided.

He moved the hatch up on the box.

_Little by little,_

_Inch by inch,_

_Bit by bit, _

He was expecting whatever was inside to explode out with great force, but instead, two red lights flashed, and a robotic squeak could be heard. Tinkor recognised it immediately.

"Smudge?" he asked quietly, "Is it really you?"

Smudge was a robo-mouse Tinkor had trapped in the Castle dungeons a few months ago. He'd started out as a hostage, but one day a particularly hardy Attacker had managed to release him. Tink thought he would never see him again- until now.

Smudge squeaked happily. He was back where he belonged.

Ballista was still staring at her box. It was tall, but not thin. She opened the door, to find a tall, slim, bipedal fox. It had a dark orange body, long red hair, and, most humourous of all, it was dressed almost exactly like Ballista.

"Where am I?" asked the fox, in a thick Brooklyn accent. "And," she added, looking to Ballista, "where did you get your fabulous sense of style from?"

Ballista smiled. Her next thoughts turned to what she was going to name her new pet. She tried drawing on past experiences for help, which wasn't going that well. She tried just random names, but that was a disaster too, so, she went to the very last resort- flowers. She'd always hated flowers, especially when they were used during alchemy classes at the Academy. They would have to test chemicals from different flowers, and Ballista hated it. All the smells, the pink, ew!

She relayed all the different flowers they used in her mind:

_Daisy?_

_Rose?_

_Poppy?_

She then remembered the last flower that her and Knightriss had tested, the one that had got them both A-stars- _Lily._

She turned to the fox. "How would you feel about being called Lily?" she asked her.

"What, like the flower?" she answered. "No way, sugar!"

Ballista desparately tried to think of something to convince the fox. It wasn't too hard.

"Y'know, the name Lily works two ways." she said. "It can either be sweet...or evil."

At the mention of the word, the fox turned her head and smiled. "Evil, you say?"

Ballista nodded. "So, are you taking the name?" she asked.

"Why on God's earth wouldn't I take the name?" Lily replied.

"I have a feeling you and I are gonna be good friends." she remarked.

A few yards away from Lily and Ballista, Gildar was trying to get the whole pet business over as quickly as possible. That was made a lot harder by the fact Shaiden and Skabb were now standing next to him.

"Are you gonna open the box or not?" she asked.

"Of course I'm gonna open the box." he said confidently, starting to lift the lid. "It's not like there's gonna be anything interesting in ther-AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

The barbarian and the ninja exchanged weirded out glances.

"What's so cute, Gildar?" Skabb asked.

Gildar smiled, as he picked out a small, white Persian cat and replied, "This!"

Skabb and Shaiden had no idea what to say.

Gildar stroked the cat for a bit, and looked at it's collar, which read,

_STOP THE SASS!_

He smiled. "Your fur's so soft!" he noticed, talking directly to it. "And your collar gives out the most amazing message!"

"So," the cat said suddenly in a quiet, soft voice, "in other words- I'm totally purr-fect?"

"And she talks too!" he said. "Aww, you're so precious!" He picked up the cat and cuddled it.

He then gasped, and declared, "That's it! I'll call you Precious!"

Precious meowed in approval, and purred as Gildar stroked her again.

"Absolutely amazing." said Shaiden.

"I don't get it." said Skabb. "What is Gildar gonna want with a fluffy cat?"

Shaiden pondered this, before answering, "Well, he obviously loves her. So, we can use this relationship to exploit him in the future."

Skabb nodded. "Good idea!" he said. He reached up to give her a high-five, but she quickly declined. "Remember what happened when you tried to do that last time?" she reminded.

Knightriss had been walking around, catching snippets of the conversations between Defenders and their pets. She had only just come towards her box, as she had been laughing over Gildar's sudden change of heart. It was the biggest of them all, which she she was rather happy to have the honour of opening.

She was delighted to see a large, light brown stallion stumble out of the box.

"Oh, thank the Lord." it said in a posh London accent. "That box was so cramped..."

Knightriss laughed. "At least you're out now. You know, you remind me of the horses I used to ride at the Academy." she said.

The horse's eyes went wide. "You mean, I'm only Academy standard?" he said.

"Well, I don't know." Knightriss replied. "Maybe you can show me some of your...talents."

"Oh, of course!" he said, starting to gallop off.

Unfortunately, he didn't look where he was going, and tripped up over Knightriss' Swirling Stinger.

The short name for it immediately popped into her head. "Lance, that would be a perfect name for you."

He got up. "My dignity, my poor poor dignity!" he said.

"So, you're OK with your name?" Knightriss asked, feeling quite surprised.

"Why, of course." replied Lance. "It is very regal and royal indeed, it really compliments my fearlessness."

He started to prance around, looking quite smug, when suddenly a voice came from a few yards away: "Oh, hellooo!"

Lance's eyes went wide yet again. "Oh no, not him!" he said, quickly trying to run away.

Knightriss clipped a bridle to him before he could leave, and soon enough, Bruiser had ran up to the two of them.

"Hi!" said Bruiser in a friendly tone.

"Hello, Bruiser." replied Lance.

"So, you two are friends, then?" she asked the ogre.

"Well..." Bruiser began.

"Don't you dare!" hissed Lance.

Bruiser continued anyway, despite Lance's warnings. "At first it started out as this bet. Lily over there bet Lance that he couldn't stay with me for a whole week. He did, but she kept making the whole thing longer, and I guess I became attached."

He tried to wrap himself around Lance's front right leg, but Lance kicked him off before anything could progress.

Thorne and Shaiden were the only two who hadn't recieved their pets yet, so they were both relieved when Crystal called them over. "We've named yours for you, is that alright?" she asked.

They both nodded, and immediately after, a blue pet carrier and a wicker basket were brought in. They had the names Spike and Shadow on them, respectively.

Thorne opened his slowly. A Jack Russell came bounding out, wearing what looked like a mini version of his owner's outfit. It was completely accurate- right down to the patch and the mohawk.

Thorne burst out laughing, and Spike began jumping up and down. He ran towards Shaiden's basket and sniffed it. "Shadow, is that you in there?" he asked in a voice that was like a higher version of Thorne's.

"I am coming, my friend." answered another voice, quiet and slithery.

Slowly, the lid began to lift from the basket, and a snake emerged. She was all white, except for a blue mark which went all across her eyes, much to Shaiden's glee.

"This place is sssss-simply ssss-spectacular." she said, looking around.

Her eyes then fixed onto Wookie. She slithered over in what seemed like a second. Wookie shrieked, and hyperflew into the sky.

"Wookie, wait!" Shadow called, chasing after him.

Spike, who was busy being stroked by Thorne, had only just noticed the comotion, and quickly ran off to see what was up.

There was a sudden honk from outside the Castle gates. Crystal looked behind, then to her mother. "I'm so sorry, darling." Sandra said.

"That's my ride." Crystal explained sadly. "It's coming...to take me home."

She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a small piece of paper, which she pressed into Thorne's hand. There were a long line of numbers written on it. "Call me." Crystal said.

She burst into tears, and hugged Thorne. His promise to her was falling apart more and more by the second. He'd promised that he'd never leave her, and never stop protecting her. He only had one more thing to do.

He took Crystal's hand. "You've changed me so much." he told her. "We've done so much together, but there's still one thing left."

He bent forward, and they passionately kissed for the last time.

Her father tapped her on the shoulder, and the kissing stopped.

"Bye, Thorne." she said quietly.

"Seeya, Crystal." he replied, trying to sound as happy as possible.

She and her parents slowly walked away, the two loves holding hands until the very last moment.

_Call me, _signed Crystal.

_I will, _signalled Thorne.

All too soon, she was through the gates, and driving away in red Ferrari.

Shaiden went over and put her arm around her brother's shoulder. He was clearly sad.

Spike and Shadow had now returned to their respective owners.

"You OK?" asked Shaiden gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine." answered Thorne. "She can't be with me forever, I know that," he said, smiling, bending down and petting Spike, "but I've got so many memories- and she's only a phone call away."


End file.
